Methacton High School
Abstract
This paper explores the mental condition of David Burke before and during his committed murder-suicide on US AIR flight 1771 (Magnuson, 2001). Burke massacred 42 people by crashing a plane mid-flight. This is a result of his unstable personality. Even without many clues from his past, David Burke has been found to be severely mentally ill. He scored highly on both Hare’s Checklist and Stone’s Scale of Evil. He is diagnosed with severe antisocial personality disorder and bipolar disorder.
David Burke
There have been 62 mass murders in the United States since 1982. Some of them have been for revenge; have happened because of jealousy; and some for no reason whatsoever. What is known is that most people who commit such horrible acts have a severe mental condition. David Burke fits the same description as most mass murderers. He had antisocial personality disorder and was infatuated with getting revenge.
Background
David Burke was born May 28, 1952. This was 35 years before his tragic double homicide that resulted in the deaths of 42 innocent people. Burke, born of Jamaican parents, had a relatively uneventful childhood. He grew up in Britain and in his mid-twenties, moved to Rochester, New York (Wikipedia, 2013). Burke worked with Pacific Southwest Airlines. Many of the flights that came into Rochester International Airport were from Jamaica. After sixteen years of service Burke was under investigation for his involvement in drug smuggling ring between Jamaica and Rochester. While in Rochester, Burke also fathered seven children to four different women (Real Clear History 2012). In order to escape the pressure of supporting his children and the pressure of the ongoing police investigation, he moved to Los Angeles, California (Magnuson, 2001). Burke had an aggressive personality. On two separate occasions, Burke’s new girlfriend, Jacqueline Camacho, claimed Burke had attempted to